Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

I liked it a lot but:

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They used way too much CGI and the running bits were way too corny. Harrison Ford looked way too old at times and the aliens thing was a little iffy. Other than that it was fun and funny. I liked Shia in his part, but like my SO, we think he can't carry the Indy franchise.

Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

I'm not going to lie: I gave it a 5. Not only do I feel like I got exactly what I payed for, but practically everything in the movie "clicked" for me. At times, it borders on going overboard on the campiness, but it's always honest about it. It's pretty much consistently straightforward in its campiness. I never once doubted that the entire cast and crew were shooting a scene that wasn't meant to be campy. I'd be curious to know more about where CGI was used because what I originally took for (bad) CGI from the trailers actually turned out to be rear projection and other "older" movie tricks. I was happy to see models make a big return to moviemaking.

I'll probably throw some more stuff into this thread at a later date (maybe after seeing it again), but I'll talk about some spoiler-y stuff first.

I promise this isn't just my fandom showing, but I can't really see how anyone could say this movie is charmless, lifeless, and devoid of fun or any similar descriptions, especially in relation to the other Indy movies.

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Mutt is Indy's son. Hrm...didn't see that one coming [/sarcasm]. And the movie didn't even try to treat it as a big reveal, so I'm glad that I didn't have to get angrier at it.

Harrison Ford can certainly still go. He slipped right back into the role of Indiana effortlessly and the age certainly doesn't seem to be getting to him.

Mac (Winstone's character) was my least favorite character in the film. There just wasn't any real depth to him at all. We get very little backstory about his character to reinforce his whole supposed friendship with Jones and he could have just as easily not been there.

The Russians make a good villain.

Frankly, for a revisionist director like Spielberg, I rank Shia channeling Tarzan up there in campiness with Indy, Short Round, and Willie surviving jumping out of the plane by using the life raft: it is a pretty good send-up of old serials and Saturday morning TV movies.

As for the aliens...hrm. Well, I actually wasn't THAT appalled by it. I'm wondering though, because the story about that MacGuffin was that it's what Lucas wanted to do and they went back to it, removing the "offending" parts of it. I'm curious what those offending parts were. Frankly, I thought they worked for the movie. The only really offensive part about the alien involvement in the movie is the end when the temple type structure gets destroyed and a spaceship takes off. In the end, that doesn't comprise enough of the over 2 hour long movie to ruin it for me. Even still, I thought it was handled well. Actually, one thing that frustrates me about this criticism isn't that it exists. I can accept that some people are turned off by the alien thing. What annoys me is when I run into a situation like last night. Behind me and my friend (both 19), a group of what I'm pretty sure were highschoolers were sitting. Now, I'm not one to jump into stereotypes or judging, but based on their reaction, I don't think it was so much "Yay, Indy" as "lol MIDNIGHT MOVIE!!!11!" that prompted them to come see this. In particular, I was frustrated by this: "It turned into Independence Day halfway through." What upsets me about this is that in complete fairness, true alien involvement in the film is deniable until the skull itself is returned and things happen as they do. Of the 2 hour and some odd minute film, this part comprises like....15 minutes at best. That's 1/8th of the entire movie.

If one thing about the CGI frustrates me is that in the instances where it is blatant (prairie dogs, treecutter, ants, aliens, etc.), a LOT of it could have been avoided, but even then, it didn't ruin the movie for me.

By no means is my 5 star rating saying it's perfect. Despite the 19 year delay, I don't feel like I was misled or shortchanged. After all, they've been trying to get this together for quite some time, and they went through countless MacGuffins to arrive where they did. Despite Lucas' past transgressions, I will put enough faith in the team (Lucas, Spielberg, Marshall) to trust that what we got was sincerely their best effort in terms of a story.

I went in expecting Indy and in the end, I got Indy in spades. I'm not a big fan of Lucas' idea to abandon Ford as a lead in the next one (if it happens), but I can certainly tolerate it a little more now. WARNING: Thus begins praise of Shia. Shia's been doing incredibly well with his development as an actor. He's shown a good deal of range in his roles. He's going to be good for comedy and action roles in the future, especially the quirky action roles like Indy and Transformers. There's a movie coming out September 26 called Eagle Eye that I can only describe as Matrix-esque that had a preview in front of Indy last night with Shia as the lead. It looks good. For his age, I think that Shia is one of the best actors in Hollywood of his age. And I don't feel that he is a buyable lead because he has been built that way. I truly believe that he actually has what is necessary to be a lead. Although I would rather wait for him to take over the lead role until a 6th movie (something that probably won't happen), I could probably stomach him in the lead role if that's what it took for a 5th to happen in the first place.

EDIT: Person above me said it better: Shia will not be able to carry the franchise, but he does make a good addition to it, IMO.

Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

Originally Posted by krystledm

can someone tell me

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what do the aliens look like? are they bulb heads, star wars style, what? my brother doesn't do aliens and i want o be able to warn him before he goes to see this.

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I don't know if anyone has pictures, but you don't see aliens for very long. Go find a picture of the Crystal Skull from the movie and imagine that actually being the skull of an organism. I would say bulb-head, but they look kind of like the Destroy All Human aliens, except a lot taller and a lot less "mean" looking.

Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

I did like...

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the scene in the soon-to-be nuked town and Indy's escape using a lead-lined fridge! One (pedantic) question though - why was there no running water in the house he entered and yet the sprinklers and hose were going outside? And although all of the dummies were fun, surely that level of detail (ice-cream man, TV set on etc) was a little OTT?

Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

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I still am not sure how I feel about the movie, but I definitely have to agree that the sci-fi elements feel like oil and water with Indy. What I mean by that is basically, someone needs to give George Lucas a hobby. At least it never reached Jar Jar Binks levels of stupidity. That said, I'll agree with what mycroft16 said. It did make sense to have the McGuffin be alien-related. The republic serials from the 30's which the first films were based on always featured on all the booby traps and mystical whatnot, and Indy 4 takes place in the 50's when everyone was obsessed with "space men".

The 2 things in this movie that almost made me explode in rage were the vine swinging (absoludicrous!) and when Shia picked up the hat at the end. I think I may have cursed out loud when that happened, but thank goodness Indy took it back.

And the one thing I was really hoping for in all of this was a Sallah cameo! Sallah is easily Indy's best and most beloved sidekick! Would it not have been ridiculously easy to have him be at the wedding?! And while I know everyone pretty much hates Temple of Doom, it would have been pretty cool to see Shorty there too. I'm just sayin...

And to all the people that feel like their childhood has been ruined because of this movie... calm down! If that's how you really feel, then throw away your original Indy movies since they've obviously been tarnished beyond all belief. [/RANT]

"Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest."

Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

Originally Posted by mycroft16

The opening sequence was a beautiful nod to a past film.

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I wonder if there is anything cool/humorous written on any of the crates you pass throughout that scene.

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Well, I dunno about *on* a crate - but we get to see *in* a banged up crate at one point! I was kinda sorta maybe hoping it would resurface later in the plot...

Originally Posted by krystledm

can someone tell me

Spoiler

what do the aliens look like? are they bulb heads, star wars style, what? my brother doesn't do aliens and i want o be able to warn him before he goes to see this.

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They kind of looked like the aliens from Signs only purplish and smooth skin. They're tall with really elongated heads, big eyes, pinched mouths.

Originally Posted by Darkwing Chuck

And to all the people that feel like their childhood has been ruined because of this movie... calm down! If that's how you really feel, then throw away your original Indy movies since they've obviously been tarnished beyond all belief. [/RANT]

Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

Daughter and I saw it this afternoon and enjoyed it. Agree with some of the things said in spoiler boxes like

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the whole alien idea, Shiah swinging through the trees - too over the top. Loved seeing a glimpse of the Ark, seeing Dad's picture on the desk and stuff like that. The giant ants creeped me out. I had to close my eyes at one point

Over all a movie that will make a ton of money this weekend and I gave it a 4. I also rank it 3rd in the list as have others.

Re: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (MiceChat Reviews)

I saw it last night, and overall I enjoyed it. I didn't think that it was a complete abandoning of the indy formula, in fact I think that for the most part they used it quite well.

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However, there was one moment in the film that I didn't like. It came at the end where Mudd almost picks up Indy's hat. I think the best response was the guy in my theater that said "That is NOT YOUR FEDORA!". I'm glad that he didn't end up putting it on, but the insinuation that he is aiming for Indy's spot is disconcerting

Overall I agree with the other posts about the CGI. Speilberg and Ford have both insinuated that they have had trouble toning down Lucas in the past, and it seems like they lost their battle in this one. Worth seeing, but don't expect to be totally blown away.